International Patent Filing Increase in 2010

International Patent Filing Increase in 2010

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) International patent filings under Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) increased by 4.8% in 2010, with strong growth from China (+56.2%), the Republic of Korea (+20.5%), and Japan (+7.9%), and a continued decline in the United States (-1.7%).

Despite the 1.7% fall in 2010, the United States remains the largest user of the PCT system with 44,855 international applications.

Panasonic Corporation kept the top spot in the list of PCT applications published in 2010, followed by Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE Corporation, and Qualcomm Incorporated. A second Chinese company—Huawei Technologies occupies the fourth rank, followed by Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., Robert Bosch GMBH, and LG Electronics.

PCT international applications by INDIA have grown over the past five years